11 People Saved From Fire by 84-Year-Old Woman

An 84-year-old Jacksonville woman with trouble sleeping is getting the credit for saving 11 people from an early Wednesday morning fire.

Carmen Rodriguez was up at 2 a.m. praying when she smelled smoke, the Florida Times Union reported. Curious as to the source of the smell, Rodriguez stepped outside, saw flames and began to warn people in her Jacksonville apartment building, banging on doors and yelling for neighbors to get out.

A total of 10 other adults and one child were displaced as a result of the fire that caused more than $100,000 damage to the complex at 5202 E. LaVentura Drive, the paper noted. No injuries were reported.

As for Rodriguez, her daughter says it was meant to be that her mother was awake.

“The ceiling fell on her bed,” Sol Maria Cabrera told the paper.

See Also:

• Boys Rush into Burning Home to Save Babies

Rodriguez isn’t the only Florida resident to receive credit for saving neighbors from fires as of late. Back in June, two Orange County boys were heralded as heroes for rushing into a burning mobile home to rescue two babies trapped inside. The pint-sized heroes in that case were Isiah Francis, 10, and Jeremiah Grimes, 11. After saving the babies, the pair called 911.

Officials in the boys’ hometown of Oakland have plans to honor pair. Both boys said the experience was frightening, but they brushed fear aside to save the babies, ages 1-year and 8 months.

To read more about the Jacksonville fire, visit the Times Union online.

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